No Rock And Roll Fun

FILMS AND MUSIC AREN'T THE SAME - WILL ANYONE CARE?: Tucked away in the back of the Guardian, Jonathan Bernstein's column mentions that Soul Plane may have just worked its way into the history books by being the first film to have its entire audience wiped out by piracy; he makes an argument that while music piracy may, indeed, be victimless, film piracy is of a different stamp; it could have the power to wipe out any business a second-string movie could do if it's on sale in a crisp copy six weeks before its in the theatres (as was the case with Soul Plane). This may or mayn't be true, but it certainly sounds compelling - and the big worry is that the action demanded by the studios will lead to further strengthening of the record companies' case by osmosis. It's going to be a wan hope that the legislatures treat the two different industries in different ways, isn't it?